The fifth episode of season two airs tonight. Talk about what you are anticipating most tonight and use this thread to give your reactions to the episode as it airs. I will be back with my recap after the episode concludes. Here are the episode details:

Writers: David Benioff & D.B. Weiss

Director: David Petrarca

Runtime: 57 min

Synopsis: The end of the Baratheon rivalry drives Catelyn to flee and Littlefinger to act. At King’s Landing, Tyrion’s source alerts him to Joffrey’s flawed defense plan and a mysterious secret weapon. Theon sails to the Stony Shore to prove he’s worthy to be called Ironborn. In Harrenhal, Arya receives a promise from Jaqen H’ghar, one of three prisoners she saved from the Gold Cloaks. The Night’s Watch arrive at the Fist of the First Men, an ancient fortress where they hope to stem the advance of the wildling army.

Can’t wait to see what happens to shadow baby. The preview clips show Brienne swinging some serious sword and I look forward to that too. Arya’s interaction with Jaqen will be epic. Also her interaction with Tywin, which is hinted at in the preview clips, that will be new material and what will she be called now? Sweet anticipation!

You’re right. I was just hoping they don’t deviate too much from the books and make act in some different way. I’m not a critic from the way they’ve adapated the source material, I love most of it so far, but I feel that LF’s character has been the most changed, for the worse.

I think he’s being intentionally misleading. The “secret weapon” mentioned in the synopsis is found by TYRION and is clearly referring to wildfire. I don’t see why it would have anything to do with Mel/shadowbaby.

Juan:
Not liking the whole ‘Baratheon rivalry drives Littlefinger to act.’ What exactly is he supposed to be doing?

I think that’s rather obvious: blaming Catelyn Stark for Renly’s death, swearing she is in league with the man Eddard died trying to make king – Stannis. Baelish then offers to broker an alliance of marriage with Joffrey to the Tyrells to thwart Stannis and the Starks. That offer will bear fruit in episode 9.

I’m exited for Arya receiving the promise from Jaken, in episode 4 she mentioned only 6 people but I suppose she’ll have to add some more names to her list , I guess it could be the Tickler, Amory Lorch and Weese perhsps? (actually I don’t know if the last is supposed to be in the show or they decided to cut him)

All I hope for is that they don’t show Peter’s deal with the tyrells because the fact that they seemed to come out of nowhere during the Blackwater was the best part. They have time to explain the whole thing in episode ten but I feel that if people know it’s coming, it could ruin the surprise.

You sound like you know it for sure… but any thing could happen and they have good reason to keep the Reek casting from public.

Of course I agree the chance is slim.

At this point I think it’s pretty safe to assume that the introductions of Reek, the Reeds, the Walders, Hoat, etc., have been pushed into Season 3, with necessary alterations to the plot in order make it work.

Specifically, Reek and Theon will almost certainly have their storyline altered, elaborated and extended through season 3, in order to prevent them from going MIA for two seasons, which is what would happen if they followed the books to a T.

According to the summary for the following episodes, I think it is obvious Asha visits Theon in episode 8. If sack of Winterfell doesn’t happen, what would Theon do for the next two episodes? Ending with Theon saying bye to Asha would be a pretty lame ending for his plot line this season. So I don’t think Theon’s story would be changed too much.

For Reek, it’s possible that they combine Roose and Reek. And that’s a lot of change…e.g. who holds Harrenhall after Tywin and why does Arya escape. How does Roose go back to north since the ironborn holds the neck…

As for the actor having nothing to do for two seasons…That’s because we don’t have a POV in the north in the book. It’s entirely possible, and easy to have Theon in the story just like what they do with Robb

Can’t wait, i’m looking foward to at least 10 minutes of screen time with Ros, characters eating fruits EXCEPT peaches, scene with Hot Pie NOT screaming “hot pie”, lots of random fart jokes and nudity, and all the insignificant little details that D&D can’t fit into a 57 min episode. I mean how hard can it be to fit 1000+ pages of a novel with a cast of hundreds into a 50 minute-ish episode??????

I truly dont know if I should feel sorry for or laugh at all the book purists, whiners, and trolls.

My husband and I have an ongoing issue. He is a non-reader so when things happen that I have been expecting for weeks he sometimes does not react as I expect him to. He actually shrugged of Jamie pushing Bran out the window. If this episode doesnt get him excited a divorce may be in our future. Just kidding but I think tonight is the night that everything changes and leads to a glorious final 5 eps.

honestly I’m all excited for 5th episode, 7th episode with respect to Jaime and I’m guessing maybe in same 7th episode or might the 8th episode one of the dragons will burn the house of the undying. I am all excited to see the dragons in play this season. Earlier I was waiting for them to hatch all throughout the 1st season.

I’m also waiting for the Tyrion’s deal of marriage between Joffery and Margery… at the same time I just hope they don’t go too far and NOT end the season with Joffery’s death cause I want that moment to be hugely epic. I’m sure everybody as fans of the books as well as the series, most of them want Joffery’s death which shuld only come in season 3

I’ve been wondering when he was going to make an appearance again. The audience probably already forgot who he is. The actor who plays Dontos has a twitter and he said he had a part in the scene where Joffrey has Sansa beaten and stripped in the court. You can actually see him in a couple of the shots but apparently that scene was edited down to be shorter. I’m assuming they toned down Sansas beating because of the scene with Joffrey and the whores that followed it.

The thing about the fart jokes is, they are every bit as “but that’s the ugly truth about what it was like at the time” as the sex and violence. Apparently a high tolerance for medieval sex and violence indicates low tolerance of medieval humor.

Ha, I have the same issue with mine, not to mention he can’t remember anyone’s name. :)
We were actually talking about the shadow scene the other day, and we went at it for about 20 minutes, and at the end I found myself wondering out loud if it’ll be shown to have Stannis’ features, and he goes: “Yeah…who’s Stannis?” *facepalm*

I’m really excited for this episode. All the Jaqen stuff has been one of the things i’ve been most looking forward to this season. I’m not gonna lie though, if he doesn’t keep the “A man…A girl…” etc. way of speaking, I will be a little dissapointed. Not enough to hate the episode or anything, but I’ll have a minor sad for a few seconds. I’m also really interested to see the Arya/Tywin scenes, and how they play out.

It’ll also be nice finally seeing the Wildfire and the Pyromancers guild! Maybe they’ll even include Tyrion ordering the citys smiths to start working on the chain?

Yeah, I remember him saying how much he adored working with Maise. And Tywin, while not one of my favourite characters, is deffinitely one of the most interesting characters, and it’s about time we got a bit of his backstory. I hope he mentions The Reynes and Tarbecks. Maybe even talk a bit about his time with Aerys or the sack of Kings Landing.

He may not, as it would be a bit weird for him to indulge the curiosity of a cupbearer like that, but still, we may get some of it.

Deborah:
My husband and I have an ongoing issue.He is a non-reader so when things happen that I have been expecting for weeks he sometimes does not react as I expect him to.He actually shrugged of Jamie pushing Bran out the window.If this episode doesnt get him excited a divorce may be in our future.

Funny I finally got my wife to watch GoT (I’m a non-book reader, and watched it all a 2nd time with her) and she didn’t react to Ned’s execution at all, and just said his death needed to happened in order for the plot to progress and not stagnant, like it was a no-brainer from a writing stand point. Although the shadow child from last week made both of us flip out. We didn’t see that one coming.

I watch Game of Thrones with my whole family on the huge 80″ HD with a sound system Sorround sound. After the recap when that GoTs intro music starts its as exciting as Monday Night Football in my house.

My father and I are the only ones who read the books. The rest of my family love the show and although I have to explain things here and there, the TV series does a good job on informing the non-book reader as to what is brewing in the plot.

I know I come on here and nitpick a lot. Overall this series is completely original and there is nothing like it on TV. Besides tiny little things that bother me here and there I am very happy with the TV adaptation.

I think this episode is going to start this seasons epicness. They laid down the groundwork and introduced most of the important new characters/relationships.

I believe the conversation between the two Lann. guards was just to show everyone that they are just two normal blokes, who can fart around with each other, like we all do with our friends. Attempt to humanize the Lnnister soldiers (they aren’t all goons) like Bloody Mummers.

I know Ros will probably get some screentime crying to Tyrion about Jeff. (That is probably why D&D put that scene in there, for Ros, since it has already been made clear that Jeff is a sadastic prick). That and seeing the scrawny Mountain. (The new Mountain looks like Paul Gasol from the LA Lakers with armor on).

Besides those two things that I know will push my buttons, I’ll be enjoying the show!

I’ll be sure to come back and complain some more about what I didn’t like with y’all shortly after lol…

tysnow: etween the two Lann. guards was just to show everyone that they are just two normal blokes, who can fart around with each other, like we all do with our friends. Attempt to humanize the Lnnister soldiers (they aren’t all goons) like Bloody Mummers.

And it mirrors the end scene nicely since both involve gaseous expulsions.

I’m really wondering how the Tywin vs Roose storyline is going to work its way out,. If it’s a matter of geography shifting that doesn’t bother me but the politics of the situation could have profound effects on how season 3 pans out.

And it mirrors the end scene nicely since both involve gaseous expulsions

Lol, nice, with the exception each exits from a different orifice. I wonder if the shawbaby emitted a fragant aroma of sorts. I can picture everyone in the tent shitting themselves when you know what appears.

It will almost certainly be those two, however it doesn’t really matter one way or another. Arya may get Needle back sooner than in the books (although she may not), but in no way, shape, or form is it “important” for those two characters to show up when they do in the third book.

Arthur,
It’s funny that you mention Pau Gasol because he is actually a big fan of the ASoIaF novels. He tweets about them sometimes and was just recently on an HBO sports documentary and they showed him reading one of the spanish versions of the books.

On behalf of the Throners, Thronies, Bannermen, Banners, Bannerpeople, Thronepeople, Bottom Supporters, Bottomers (what would Paco say?), Thronessieurs, RavenMavens and other assorted fans of the show, I hereby submit that we call ourselves…

I imagine we’ll get the sequence at Renly’s camp to start the episode, and Ary will get a good amount of focus theoughout the episode. I think we’ll be seeing less of King’s Landing in this episode to make room for more Dany and Jon Snow, and the scenes with Theon and Bran in Winterfell could be rather short; setting things up more for the next episode than anything else. Still, it’s a lot to get through in 57 minutes.

I really hope they give Halfhand his due. I found him one of the most intriguing characters. Maybe it was too much projection on my part, but I sensed a sort of stoic death wish on his part, long before the final event with Jon and the wildlings. It was almost as though he’d had his fill of the Ranger life and decided when he met Jon that he’d take control of his destiny in the only way possible for him. He was one of my favorite kinds of characters: full of ambiguity in that he was clearly duty bound but much deeper than that, too. I hope they’ve preserved some of that in the series.

Andrew:
I’m really excited for this episode. All the Jaqen stuff has been one of the things i’ve been most looking forward to this season. I’m not gonna lie though, if he doesn’t keep the “A man…A girl…” etc. way of speaking, I will be a little dissapointed. Not enough to hate the episode or anything, but I’ll have a minor sad for a few seconds. I’m also really interested to see the Arya/Tywin scenes, and how they play out.

It’ll also be nice finally seeing the Wildfire and the Pyromancers guild! Maybe they’ll even include Tyrion ordering the citys smiths to start working on the chain?

It’s one of the episodes I’ve been looking forward to as well. Hopefully we’ll get to see Roy Dotrice tonight!

The really sad part about tonight is it means the season is already half over! /whine

It will almost certainly be those two, however it doesn’t really matter one way or another. Arya may get Needle back sooner than in the books (although she may not), but in no way, shape, or form is it “important” for those two characters to show up when they do in the third book.

Yes, but the Tickler is one of Arya’s kills. That scene is one of the best parts of the books. “Is their gold in the village”?

Not a spoiler but we have three episodes left before the battle of blackwater… i feel like the first 4 episodes have cranked us to the top of the roller coaster now we get to let it rip and build the tension to the epic episode 9 (took 1 month to film). Also – i know it will be a little out of place but i bet we get three horn blasts in episode 10. Can’t wait.

Roy Dotrice made my rides to and from work for about 6 months so very enjoyable. He is the best narrator I have ever encountered.

Listening to Roy read GRRM’s books with his Shakespearian voice acting skills was amazing. He made every character come to life in ways me just reading it myself never have.

To anyone who hasn’t listened to the audio books on iTunes that are read by Roy. You are in for a real treat if you buy and download it and listen to it on your rides to and from work. I looked forward to my 45min rides to work because Roy would be narrating ASOIAF for me. He was awesome!

KaMrAnAhMeD: I’m also waiting for the Tyrion’s deal of marriage between ******* and *******… at the same time I just hope they don’t go too far and NOT end the season with ********* death cause I want that moment to be hugely epic. I’m sure everybody as fans of the books as well as the series, most of them want ********* death which shuld only come in season 3

Hunny, that happens in ASOS remember….we’re still on book 2 for this season

A little disappointed the Tickler died now. But maybe they’ll have another man in his place later. Brienne’s oath to Catelyn… could have cried. :’) But the shadow scene was pretty bad… good thing the rest of the episode was so good! The highlight had to be Tywin’s discussion with Arya, imho.

I am happy it ended on a positive note (well, positive for this series) with Jaqen killing The Tickler. Hell yeah! I only wish it had been more, I dunno, graphic, considering how awful he was last week to those prisoners.

The oath scene between Brienne and Cat was perfect for fans of the books, but probably seemed a little hokey to non-fantasy fans.

I loved every Arya scene, especially when she says, “Anyone can die” to Tywin. Wow. Look on her face was chilling; even Tywin seemed to get her drift. I also liked seeing her teach Gendry the proper stance while practicing with his sword.

I like that they gave Bran the green dream. I will miss Jojen and Meera, but it makes sense to give the abilities to Bran. I am surprised they didn’t “show” us the dream of the three eyed crow, though.

The Qarth scenes are the strangest for me. I know they are similar to the book, but something just seemed off, like they were at a scifi convention. Pyat Pree’s trick and introduction of the house of the undying was cool, but Quaithe looks so weird in that mask. I did like the added scene with Dany and Xaro.

Loved the North of the Wall scenes, especially Samwell’s excitement at standing on the Fist of the First Men. I like TV Sam better than bumbling book Sam. I was surprised we didn’t get a better Qorin Halfhand intro, but that’s a minor quibble. Is this the last time Jon will see Commander Mormont?

Was anybody else yelling at Arya when she didn’t know the sigil of house Mooten?
I was all “IT’S A WOMAN IN A SWIRL OF WHITE SILK, YOU IDIOT! AND THEIR WORDS ARE ‘BRAVE AND BEAUTIFUL’!!!” That’s when a realized how sad it was that I knew that, even though house Mooten plays only a tiny, tiny role. Anyway, when is Dany going to name her dragons? However, I was delighted to finally see Qaithe. However, I’m less than impressed with the acting of whoever is playing Brienne, she seems kind of robotic. On a different notes, did we get a glimpse of the Cleftjaw, or am I mistaken?

I don’t know why they would not give Jon Snow more credit for being a Stark……
First Craster, now Qorin(spelling) I would have liked it better Q wanting a Stark with him.
I guess they don’t want viewers to think the Starks mean something in the north.
(Book thing)

daev3:
I don’t know why they would not give Jon Snow more credit for being a Stark……
First Craster, now Qorin(spelling) I would have liked it better Q wanting a Stark with him.I guess they don’t want viewers to think the Starks mean something in the north.

Same here, it just didn’t seem quite right having Jon ask to go on this mission rather than Qhorin asking for him specifically, my main worry there is that non-readers might think that his fake desertion is… well… not fake. Other than that though, I quite liked the Halfhand scenes

wargsareawesome:
Was anybody else yelling at Arya when she didn’t know the sigil of house Mooten?
I was all “IT’S A WOMAN IN A SWIRL OF WHITE SILK, YOU IDIOT! AND THEIR WORDS ARE ‘BRAVE AND BEAUTIFUL’!!!” That’s when a realized how sad it was that I knew that, even though house Mooten plays only a tiny, tiny role. Anyway, when is Dany going to name her dragons? However, I was delighted to finally see Qaithe. However, I’m less than impressed with the acting of whoever is playing Brienne, she seems kind of robotic. On a different notes, did we get a glimpse of the Cleftjaw, or am I mistaken?

LOL thats some epic nerd rage there. Im on my third read through (about 20 chapters into a storm of swords), and even if my mothers life was on the line, i couldnt guess ANYTHING about the sigil of house mooton. Pretty cool though, just shows how much of a epic world GRRM created

On topic tho, i loved this episode. I thought everything went extremely well, im a little dissapointed that the tickler was killed at this point of the story but i had to tell myself..”THIS IS A TV ADAPTATION, NOTHING MORE NOTHING LESS” … lol..i love it so far, i have faith in david, d.b, and grrm.

and literally, thats has been my ONLY quirk all season because arya killing the tickler was one of my favorite parts of a storm of swords…but hey, what can we do, these guys are doing the best they can

Um, aren’t they >the same person? Wouldn’t they just use the same actor?

I like TV Sam better than bumbling book Sam.

I didn’t like him at first, but Martin did such a good job of developing that character that I couldn’t help but love him. He found his nitch, and by the end of the last book, I was so hoping that he gets together with Gilly and finds a home at last.

Am I the only one who’s pissed that Jon Snow didn’t find the dragonglass dagger before going with Qhorin? How will Samwell get the dagger?? How will he become Sam the Slayer and know that it kills white walkers?! I swear the show will be ruined in the next seasons if they don’t stop all of these small plot changes

if it’s not jon who found it, how would it explain jon having a dragonglass dagger?

At what point does Jon need a dragonglass dagger? Sam just needs to find the cache and be like “oh this is dragonglass i know because i read it in a book” and the plot is fine. This gives Sam something to do for the next five episodes.

Winteriscoming.net, if you ever get the chance to interview Dan Weiss, please ask him to stop letting his personal feelings about Stannis’ character impact the way the character translates onto the screen. Thanks